Will the Packers break 20?

Green Bay’s offense has not scored more than 20 points in a game since week two, but the Los Angeles defense is a viable contender to help Jordan Love and co. break that streak. On the season, the Chargers are dead last in passing yards allowed and 29^th in yards per play allowed.

Despite being in the middle of the pack in terms of missed tackles, the soft style of defense they play has left them especially susceptible to yards after the catch, ranking 31^st in that category. That could mean it is time to unleash Aaron Jones in the passing game this week.

On the whole, the Packers offensive line has performed well in pass protection, and while on paper a matchup against Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa and Tuli Tuipulotu might appear to be a tough assignment, the Chargers are only 25^th in pressure percentage.

Love’s play has been encouraging in the last two games, and the Chargers are allowing the 6^th highest passer rating in the league. There are plenty of signs this could be the week the Packers break out on offense.

One area Brandon Staley’s defense has excelled is on third down, with only two other teams allowing a lower conversion rate. Taking what is there on early downs will be important for Love to stay ahead of the sticks and avoid third and long.

Red zone efficiency

A key element of the Packers’ ability to put up points this week will be efficiency inside the 20. Versus the Steelers, Green Bay found themselves in the red zone five times, which is great! Except they only scored one touchdown.

The Packers rank 27^th in the NFL for touchdown percentage in the red zone, at 46.88%, while the Chargers are 2^nd in the league, finding the end zone on 72.41% of trips.

Early in the season, the Packers cashed in their red zone trips pretty successfully but have found it more difficult in recent weeks. Whichever team executes better in that part of the field may well be the winner on Sunday.

Stop Keenan Allen

The Chargers have been ravaged by injuries at the wide receiver position. Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer are on injured reserve, while Allen and Jalen Guyton are both ailing ahead of this week’s matchup.

Allen is trending towards playing, though, as he was a full participant in Friday’s practice as he recovers from a shoulder issue. That would be a big boost for Justin Herbert, as Allen is the team’s only healthy difference-making wideout.

The veteran receiver has 105 targets this season. The player with the next-highest number who will be on the field for Los Angeles this week is running back Austin Ekeler.

With Allen looking good to go, the Packers will be crossing their fingers Jaire Alexander returns from his own shoulder injury to help corral him. If the Packers can keep Allen relatively quiet, there are very few candidates to get open for Herbert.

Is Rashan Gary playing?

Gary’s presence, or lack thereof, will play a huge factor in how comfortable Herbert can be in the pocket this Sunday.

The recent recipient of a shiny new contract, Gary is questionable after injuring his shoulder in the final practice of the week. He has 34 pressures this season, while Preston Smith, Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness have 35 between them.

Herbert is one of the league’s elite passers. If the Packers cannot disrupt him, bad things will happen.

Tackle Austin Ekeler

The aforementioned Ekeler will likely see a heavy workload as both a runner and a receiver this week, and slowing him down will be crucial if the Packers are to avoid being paper cut to death like they were against the Steelers.

That starts with stopping runs from rupturing into bigger gains, and to do that, Green Bay must tackle soundly.

Coming off a game in which they had an eye-opening 16 missed tackles in Pittsburgh, that might be easier said than done. The Packers have to put up a better fight in run defense this week.